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F. L. VERNON July 4, 1950 BRACKET Filed June 25, 1947 INVENTOR.

V II. l

Patented July 4, 1`950 UNITE-D `'sra'rlaz's PATENT l imornrry y' Frederick L.I Vernon, Newton, Iowa Y y Application June 25, 1947, .Serial No. 757,013

This invention pertains vto new and usefulimprovements in advertising devices, thisbeing of a type adapted to attract` attention to the advertising appearing thereon by ,being made in the form of a rain gauge.

It is commonly known that there is no matter of more common discussion than matters pertaining to the weather. Advertising devices featuring temperature, humidity and barometric pressure information have achieved considerable acceptance. So far as is presently known, however, no one has heretofore thought of the idea of applying to the advertising field a means for determining the amount of rainfall at a particular time or during a particular period. It will be obvious that this information is decidedly interesting to a high percentage of persons and that the device furnishing this information would be frequently consulted. It will also be obvious that if advertising were applied to such a device the advertising would be called to the viewers attention every time the device were looked at.

In view of the foregoing, it is the purpose of the instant invention to provide a simple rain gauge of low cost construction and suflicient accuracy for reliance to be placed upon the information furnished by it and having areas on its face for the reception of advertising.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description which follows and from the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the device;

Fig'. 2 is a plan view of the blank of metal which may be used in fabrication of the tube-supporting frame of the device;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device of Fig. 1; and

Fig. is a cross sectional View taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

As shown in Fig. 1, the rain gauge generally comprises a tube-supporting frame generally indicated by reference numeral IU, having associi ated therewith a rain-receiving cylindrical tube I I superposed above which is a rain-catching pan or funnel I2 which drains into said tube. Frame Ill has a planar face I3 on which are indicated rainfall indicia I 4 indicating inches of rainfall per square foot of ground surface. In its preferred form, face I3 is provided with a planar area I5 for the reception of advertising or the like.

As shown in Fig. 2, frame I0, when made of metal, is formed from a planar blank of greater 1 claim. (c1. ziel-m1)y length thanwidth having upper and lower endl' portions adapted to' be bent backwardlyalong. lines I6 and into'parallel relation at right an-v,l

glesrtothe main body portion of the blank and.

adapted toform, respectively, upper tube supportl I8 and a rain gauge mounting base I9.

Upper tube support I8 has a generally annular cutout portion 2u formed therein which merges with a slot 2|, the latter extending longitudinally of frame |0 for a considerable part of the length of said frame, Along the bottom portion of slot 2| there is excised from said frame along parallel slit lines 22, 22 a tongue-like portion which is bendable along line 24 out of the plane of the blank to form a tube-supporting base 23 adapted to extend at right angles to frame I0 and a rear tube support 26 which is bendable into generally upright position with respect to base 23 along line 25.

Tube I I is preferably made of glass or transparent plastic and has a horizontally extending tube-closing bottom 21, being entirely open at its top as at 28.

While it is not necessary that such be provided, where it is, rain catching pan or funnel |.2 is of pre-determined bottom surface area having upstanding side walls such as typically indicated by reference numeral 29. In the bottom of the pan is an opening rimmed :about below the bottom thereof by downwardly extending annular ring 3U of a cross dimension such that the ring is impingingly receivable in open tube end 28 to permit the pan to freely drain into the tube. It will be obvious that the upstanding sides of the pan may also be used to bear advertising matter.

In the shaped condition of frame IIJ, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5, the position of opening 20 is such as to freely receive tube II so that its bottom 21 reposes on support 23. As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 rear tube support 26 is preferably bent in a forward direction so as to force the cylindrically arcuate sides of the tube against the free edges of slot 2| and into juXta-position to indicia I4 for easy and accurate reading as best shown in Fig. 3.

It will be obvious that for greatest accuracy the device of the invention should be placed in a position wherein the rainfall is not diverted. The top of a post makes an ideal mounting and for that reason mounting base I9 is provided with screw or nail-receiving openings such as those typically indicated by reference numeral 3|.

While frame I0 has been specifically described as being made of metal shaped to the form described with respect to it, it will be obvious that itA may be made of molded plastic material.

Other and further specific descriptions appearv throughout the specication and appear on the drawings. I wish this specic disclosure to be taken only in an illustrative sense, desiring to be limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A support comprising a frame member having an elongated slot therein extending from the top of the frame'member to'a point'spaced from the bottom thereof, a retaining member struck from said member at the bottom of said slot, said retaining member having a base portion turned away from said member at an angle and having an upturned lip thereon, an inturned base mem'- ber extending substantially parallel .to the base portion of said retaining member, andatop lip formed on said frame member, the elongatedslot extending into said top lip and being enlargedv therein, said top lip being turned at an angle to said frame member and being substantially parallel to saidbase member, the retaining member, .ODlp and,V slot being positioned to retain a `cylindrical ,member therein with a portion thereof extending through `the portion ofv said slot located in the frame member and in the enlarged portion of the elongated slot in the top lip and embraced partially thereby to retain said cylindrical member in said support.

`FREDERICK L. VERNON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

" UNITEDA STATES "PATENTS Number Name Date '110,314 Ward Dec. 20, 1870 1,026,485 Barr May 14, 1912 1,105,420 Green July 28, 1914 1,118,259 Beard Nov. 24, 1914 1,311,966 Hannon Aug. 5, 1919 l 1,407,068 -Johnson Feb. 21, 1922 1,706,606 Harkness Mar. 26, 1929 1,844,301 Selikovvitz. Feb. 9, 1932 2,067,016 Packer Jan. 5, 1937 ,2,288,956 'QRosenkoetter July 7, 1942 2,302,170 Basler Nov; 17, 1942 2,328,528 McConnell .Aug'. 31, 1943 A2,411,361 Bongiovanni Nov. v19, 1946 

